Wife to a Birdman ---
My last shipment took 2 days to get here from the shipping date and all arrived alive on arrival (except 1 in one shipment, who was trampled). The one shipment (it was my first) arrived entirely dead on arrival, it was on the post office's part and I had a full box of a lot of chicks
Hopefully if the postal service handles your babies right they should arrive fine
So in total I have had 3 shipments prior (this year) from Ideal, the one (first one) that was DOA entirely and the replacement shipment for that (which they sent the very next hatch date!) was sent PRIORITY and was here the next day! I was in awe of their service, and was reassured that my chicks would make it to me happy and alive. My most recent shipment arrived in 2 days after the shipping date, which was still very fast!
Every single employee that I have spoke with in Ideal has been very helpful, heart felt and caring. These people ship out thousands of chickens a year and yet they still can make the time to realize how compassionate back yard chicken owners are. That is what made me the most pleased. Have nothing but good to say about them! I've dealt with Cackle in the past, and honestly I never will again, their customer service was down the tube and they could think of every excuse in the book as to why nothing was ever their liability. It was ridiculous, I'm an Ideal customer when it comes to my hatchery bred birds.. 100%
Nomibear --
I'll be sure to post photos! I have a lot of other chicks that deserve to have their photos taken as well. Though I know my silkies from Ideal are far from show quality, they have enough of a 'poof' to make me happy, they're fluffy, well feathered, and I've never purchased one without 5 toes on each foot. So far as pets go I am very satisfied. I have a few polish from them, a white crested blue, buff laced, red crested red... I also have an Appennzeller Spitzhauben hen from them. I have 4 Porcelain D'uccles, 5 Mille Fleur' D'Uccles, 3 Frizzled bantam Cochins, 8 bantam Cochins, A silver sebright, a gold sebright, and various laying birds from them.
I have a pair of black tailed white japanese, D'Uccles are one of my favorite breeds along with silkies and I'm mostly a bantam lover
Excess chicks are rehomed since locally finding a lot of these breeds is hard to come by and I grow them out until I can choose who I want to keep. I typically only keep 2-3 of a variety that I purchase. Choosing the best of what I want to see in my birds
I'll post pictures as soon as I can and of course when the newest babies make their debut.
It was so terrible to lose them considering I wanted a trio. 
